


Like Wildfire

by SilverCardinal



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Feelings Realization, First Meetings, Grief/Mourning, M/M, non canon compliant regarding backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 13:51:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16724613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverCardinal/pseuds/SilverCardinal
Summary: Shiro is just so kind. When he smiles at him, he feels his insides burn, his tongue turns into coals that seer his insides when he swallows. Shiro just treats him with so much kindness and Keith feels himself engulfed in the flames.





	Like Wildfire

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this waaaaay back and only finished editing it now which is why some of the MFE's are in here since they worked better than some nameless faces.

Keith remembers the first time they meet, Shiro introduces himself, extends his hand with a gentle smile and he feels something in him twist uncomfortably.

_I’m Takashi-_

That something continues to flutter like butterflies darting across his stomach desperately trying break free.

_-but please, call me Shiro!_

He feels their wings beating with so much ferocity that Keith swears he can feel the heat emanating from them.

Shiro just looks at him with such genuine care despite just knowing Keith for a few moments, it doesn’t make any sense. He has done nothing but cause discord in the class and disrespected the fellow officers since Shiro has stepped in yet here he is offering his hand to Keith, personally introducing himself and Keith isn’t sure why. Maybe it’s for some sense of professional self preservation?

The fluttering in his stomach continues to burn away and turn into embers, Keith doesn’t know what the feeling is, but there’s an unfamiliar yet comforting warmth that soars in his chest.

He takes Shiro’s hand and he remembers how it wrapped around his own, it’s firm but Keith feels the sincerity from the gesture.

“I’m Keith.”

* * *

The feeling ebbs away long after the class ends and Shiro says goodbye as he walks away. Keith can’t help but stare at the wall for some odd moments until the feeling goes away; until he feels normal again. He isn’t too sure what to do nor how to process this feeling he has never felt before. Perhaps it is something precious Keith thinks to himself. He doesn’t let himself dawdle on the thought for long; files it in back burner in his mind but he doesn’t forget about it.

He can’t forget anyways.

Not when it keeps on coming back. Again and again. Like a spark catching the wind and burning its path and he is helpless to stop it.

* * *

The second time it happens, Shiro invites him to the dorm roof with Matt to dodge curfew and to hang out for the night. There are snacks, drinks and a laptop provided for entertainment and from an outsiders view it would appear to be extremely mundane but Keith feels the embers hum in his chest as Shiro laughs with Matt.

Inevitably, they get tired. Matt is leaning into Shiro and Shiro rests his head on Keith’s shoulder, causing him to stiffen his back.

“This okay?” Shiro asks in a low murmur.

Keith nods, his hand curls in on itself as he feels the warmth from the other man pressed against him. “Yeah.”

* * *

The next time it happens, Shiro is tentatively reaches for his hand and Keith lets him hold it with shaky grasp. Until now, he didn’t realize that he had grown accustomed to the small fire in chest and the fire bursts with countless embers settling across his skin.

* * *

It’s a semi formal meeting, a few senior officers including Shiro and a handful of junior officers scattered across the room. The event is meant for socializing and “building connections” but Keith is residing in the edge of the room surrounding by his fellow cadets who are talking about things that Keith can't be bothered to tune in to.

He only sees Shiro some odd feet away laughing and chattering away in another circle and Keith is glowering. He knows Shiro dislikes being in the center of such things, he knows that he would much rather be in a smaller more intimate setting with people that he genuinely cares to spend time with. Keith tries to tear his eyes away but he can’t, his dark eyes are set on Shiro and he swears if Kinkade didn’t put his hand on his shoulder he would’ve seared a mark onto Shiro’s skin.

“Some guys got some stuff, you want to come?”

* * *

It was a terrible idea and Keith knows it but he couldn’t say no to the opportunity to see goody-two-shoes Griffin getting fucked up over some petulant dare that he couldn’t take the stick up his ass for one night he tells himself. He was planning to stay for only a little bit and definitely was not planning to get as trashed as he did but he got lost in the allure of the nonsensical atmosphere.

A good chunk of his team and several others are caught and will undoubtedly be reprimanded in the morning once everyone has sobered up.

But in the chaos of running, tripping, drunken screaming and uncoordinated limbs, Shiro is the one that finds him. Shiro pulls him into what Keith deduces as his room. He’s kneeled over the toilet with Shiro leaning over him and pulling his hair out of his sweat covered face. His throat and nose are burning from the residue of the alcohol.

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“Yes. Yes you can,” he laughs in the porcelain. The embers in his heart continue to smolder when he feels Shiro’s hand rubbing circles on his back.

* * *

It’s the night before Kerberos. He seeks out Shiro because he can’t sleep no matter how many idle little things he does and despite them having already had their celebratory hang out of dinner and spending the entire evening with one another, something nags at Keith. They already said their first goodbyes and reassurances since Keith didn’t want it the day of; it would have been too crowded and suffocating even though they both know that . Not the mention the fire rolling in the pit of his stomach.

_I’ll be back. I promise._ He repeats the words to himself, it calms the sparks sizzling under his skin as he does.

Shiro welcomes him into his room and lets Keith lay in his bed.

They have only held hands and given each other small chaste kisses in private, this is no different.

Their hands are interlocked under the sheets, Keith can feel Shiro’s uneven breaths and notices his flushed cheeks under the dim moonlight.

_Can I hold you?_ His voice is filled with uncertainty as if there was any possibility that Keith would say no.

Keith doesn’t even answer as he presses himself against Shiro and he feels the fire burn all the more intensely.

Keith feels him stiffen as fits his chin over Shiro’s head.

_You okay?_

Shiro relaxes and draws his free arm around Keith’s back. The fire thrums calmly with his heartbeat.

_Yeah. I am now._

* * *

It was only a few weeks.

Keith sees the broadcast in the hallways and he feels the fire burn through his body until there’s nothing left.

* * *

He isn’t sure when they formally announce them missing. Nor when they formally announce them dead.

Keith doesn’t get up. He misses his first class. Then his second class. And his third. And fourth.

There’s a gaping hole in his chest where the fire once burned so brightly. No ash, no cinders. Nothing.

* * *

Keith didn’t come to the ceremony and small rumors had attributed it to his perceived indifference or arrogance (too good to be bothered to pay his respects the walls whispered to him). Griffin was that only one who checked up on him that day, even then it was a just a single hand through a narrow crack in the door to see if Keith was still there. The night before Keith said he wasn’t feeling well (again).

Well, it wasn’t an absolute lie.

* * *

Someone is knocking on his door. Keith ignores them, they usually go away when he does - Griffin stopped visiting after the memorial. Today they’re persistent and Keith just wants to be left alone, he tries to form the words but his tongue turns into hot coals that seer his insides and it hurts.

* * *

How many days has it been? Was it really necessary to barge into his room like this...

Montgomery is sitting in front of him, her face steeled but has a sad expression.

_I know it must be hard for you-_

He feels his chest ache.

_-But a lot of people have been affected by this._

Keith wants to respond back to her that he just needs a few days. It’s too soon, he’s grieving the loss of his friend and someone dear to him but he can’t find his voice.

_It’s been almost four weeks Keith._

No. It can’t be… A month? The wounds still feel fresh, he wants to say that she’s lying but he looks around and sees the numerous empty snack bags and plastic bottles piled in and around the garbage bin and not.

It couldn’t have been that long…

_If you don’t come to class tomorrow you’re going to be removed from the fighter program. Do you think he would have wanted to see you waste your talent?_

His other professor says something else before they leave but Keith doesn’t register it. He curls in on himself to try and ease the ache in his chest.

* * *

He doesn’t go to his classes the day after.

* * *

It’s all just a blur. He isn’t sure how he managed to pack his things or how he got back to his old home.

Expelled? Voluntary leave? He isn’t sure on the specifics but he just knows he couldn't be there anymore.

And he also knows that he is going to find out what happened on that mission even if it’s the last thing he does.

* * *

It is Shiro is laying on the stretcher and without a doubt, it’s him. Keith feels his eyes water and a small part of the void is set ablaze.

* * *

There’s so much Keith wants to ask. Wants to do. He wants to ask what happened to the mission. What happened to Matt and his father? What happened to Shiro in all of this time? Was he okay? Keith wants to ask all of them but also to hold and kiss Shiro and never let go.

But they don’t have the time to catch up. There is a fight that they are a part of and an inferno swirls around his heart.

_I won’t let them hurt anyone else._

* * *

Would he have fallen in love with anyone, if they'd just been there for him? Held out their hand to him when he was so alone. Giving him a place to belong, being someone that cared for him when he had no one... He thinks about it once, and it brings him to a single question.

Is the feeling that he felt with Shiro love?

Did he love Shiro?

When Keith thinks about Shiro, he thinks of safety. Support. Knowing that he could bare all of his insecurities to Shiro and he wouldn’t think any less of him. Being able to rely on someone no matter the hour, no matter the reason. Wanting to know someone inside and out without judgement. It’s understanding.

Plenty of people have reached out a hand to him before. But he’s never felt even a fraction of what he felt for Shiro for anyone else. He thinks he might not ever.

He likes the other paladins (albeit some are more annoying than others). When he was still enrolled in the Garrison, he didn’t mind his peers either. He knows that he could rely on them and that they would rely on him too.

He does care for them, he really does.

But the feeling in his chest when it comes to Shiro…

Maybe it is love.

* * *

Keith hates how this feeling gnaws and chews at him. He knows that they have to do what is necessary to save countless lives from Zarkon but he hates how Shiro would be risking his own life. Again. It would be unreasonable to say that one life is worth more than an infinite number of others but Keith can’t help the internal argument that ravages his mind that he tries to quell yet seeing Shiro in his bed recovering from a near-death experience just stokes it even further.

He tries to find the right words, to form the right question or anything to say to Shiro.

_Haven't you ~~we~~ lost enough already? _

_Don’t you think you have done enough?_

_I know you are strong but why won't you just let me protect you?_

_Have I lost sight of everything I've worked for?_

_Did I get this all wrong?_

But when Shiro asks him first, the answer comes all too easily to him.

“How many times are you going to save me?”

“As many times as it takes.”

The fire in his chest continues to burn gingerly with the answer but its flames lick the inside of his rib cage.

He was going to leave Shiro to rest in his room but something draws him back in.

Shiro tilts his head with an inquisitive look, “Are you okay?”

Part of Keith wants to laugh at the irony. The man who was just at death’s doorstep moments ago after going through god knows what, and he’s asking if Keith is okay.

He finds himself awkwardly just standing there, idly moving the weight of his body between his legs, trying to figure out how to respond before settling to sit himself at the foot of Shiro’s bed. His mouth is dry and he already knows Shiro is about to ask again if he doesn’t answer him.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” Keith sighs, his brushes his hair back with his hand. “There is so much I want to say but…” he trails off, the fire is rolling and threatening to turn into a blaze.

“Can’t find the right words?”

Keith bites his lip, “Yeah.”

Shiro gives him a gentle look and a soft smile. “Just take your time Keith. I won’t be going anywhere”

Keith sharply sucks in a breath, Shiro is comfort, his safe haven. The words slowly spill out; a year's worth of thoughts that have been simmering in his heart finally able to spill out and Keith feels the flames and cinders thrum calmly as Shiro extends his hand.

"You aren’t alone anymore," he says.

Keith knows. He has always known in his heart, in the same place he had harbored that flicker of hope that was supposed to died with the Kerberos mission but it continues to burn so bright. He couldn't even consider it because it’s Shiro, and Keith would always be there to bring him back.

Keith takes his hand and his heart and the fire beat in content.


End file.
